Cousins Maine Lobster, a Los Angeles-based food truck franchiser, has its first franchise operators in Virginia, and will eventually grow to six lobster trucks traversing Virginia, D.C. and Maryland.
The first truck will initially be based in Richmond, the second will be in Maryland starting in May, and the third of six trucks eventually coming to the region will be based in D.C. starting in August.
The local franchisees are brothers Yunus and Thameem Shahul. Yunus Shahul started with Cousins Maine Lobster in 2018 with a food truck franchise in Connecticut and a second added in New York City the following year. He currently owns and operates five trucks across his territories.
Cousins Maine Lobster truck was started by two cousins and Maine natives Jim Tselikis and Sabin Lomac. The pair appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank in 2016, and partnered with investor Barbara Corcoran to begin franchising.
Cousins Maine Lobster now operates 50 trucks in 20 states and 40 cities nationwide.
Cousins also ships live lobsters, fresh lobster meat and other seafood from its facility in Maine through home delivery it calls “Shore to Door.” It operates about a half-dozen Cousins Maine Lobster restaurants.
